Hey Brenda! I hope your mouth is feeling much better:) That 3rd pic is a toad trying to eat that worm in the 2nd toad pic. It's blurred because the little buggers move so fast. Or do you mean is there another in the pic? Possibly, they blend in with the bark so well:) I have to move really slow, I still have some that are only about a 1/4" big out there. I've been killing grasshoppers too, babies, tan ones and green ones. And some really huge ones tan ones that I swear are like 4" big! Gross me out. I killed 5 hoppers day before and just two yesterday, one was a giant one. I flush them out with water and then kind of drill them with the water and hammer them on the ground while they're stunned from the water with the shower head on the hose. It's kind of a major ick factor, but I'm tired of them eatting on the roses and the canes. I don't see too much damage on the daylilies but they leave like spit all over the lavender and the mums. I keep washing that off. Sometimes I miss hammering them and have to do it again. Works best for me. Otherwise I'm chasing them all over the yard with a flyswatter which doesn't work but I'm sure it affords the neighbors with a lot of entertainment, LOL* I'm on at least my 3rd generation of hoppers since spring. They aren't flying off somewhere else here. That's what I get for not spraying the ground in the early spring, they've been multiplying since the few I had early last year. Because I know the toads will show up in May, I don't want the ground sprayed. OTOH, I'm seeing an upswing in good bugs. All my hollyhocks are being eaten, the foliage is by I assume the grasshoppers and other pests, but I have blooms. These are the oddest looks plants, they're on the short side, but I have very pretty blooms, thank you:) I have pink and mauve blooms, my favorite colors.

OOh, most cool thing, Aggie! I buy the ootheca (egg sac), place it in one of my big bug containers, and just wait! I do this at school with my Kindergartners and it is an awesome thing. Teaches them a lot about PATIENCE because it takes forever for the little nymphs to hatch but when they do...woo-hoo! Around 150+ come out of one ootheca and it is an awesome sight to behold, for sure. So, 'raise them' isn't quite the correct term, I should use here. ;P I give each child several to take home and place in their gardens. I've had kids come back to give me reports of how large their Praying Mantids have grown (or if theirs has died), and whether they've observed them catch and eat any bugs. I've also taught them WHERE to place the insectivores so as not to have them eat any butterflies! We discuss the eating habits as well as 'preying' habits as well. It is a fun lesson for the kids and as you know, kids LOVE bugs anyway. My thinking and reason is this: I feel it is important to teach a LOT of science to children and science has really been taken out of the schools nowadays (at least in California). Gardening is an enjoyable and relaxing hobby as well as way to have your home look nice. Integrating some knowledge about insects and gardening into the school curriculum together with lifecycles (I also teach about plant lifecycles) gets the children to go home and start thinking about their OWN HOMES as well as the community and making the community a nicer place to live for the people and 'wildlife.' Knowledge about insects helps to make them aware of what is a 'good' vs. 'bad' bug (biters vs. non-biters, poisonous vs. non-poisonous, beneficial...) and at the same time, we end up with, hopefully, LESS pesticides being used in the communities and more of the beneficial insects (placed in the areas where there aren't any butterflies, of course!). I always bring home all the extra Praying Mantids for my front yard. :)

Hi again, Thanks for the follow ups... First, I had no idea that the mantis were wild harvested, and like you, think this is not acceptable. I guess I imagined a mantis farm where they breed thousands...but, no, not if they go and take them from their habitat. However your comment "Mantids not as much because the ones people are buying are not native usually to begin with. " does that imply there are mantis farms? I can certainly research it on the web also, just thought if you knew. Second, the suggestion for nematodes for specific climate...again...wow, had not thought of that either...and don't know if the nematode place would have brought that up. Third, no, will not spray permectrin again...it was a last ditch attempt... And we too have seen the frontline will sometimes work on ticks, sometimes not, same with fleas. Depends on the year and who has resistance...last year we switched to Advantage for awhile and that seemed to work, but we are reading some things that give us cause for pause...most all the products caution against using on elderly or otherwise compromised animals, and that is what we have a preponderance of. We don't have "grass" to speak of, being on the side of a mountain in the middle of the woods...one year we spread sulfur around the immediate areas and it drove the ticks off...this winter has been very mild so the ticks should be in abundance. Do any of you know if the sulfur would hurt the nematodes? Also, diatameous earth? We plan to start spraying early, as soon as we are sure the last freeze is over. We are expecting that to come early...will spay liberally and every 2 months we are thinking...a trial and error sort of thing. Thanks for the many helpful suggestions... and the link that I will research tonight. Will keep everyone posted... thanks again, palulukon

That is so cool! I've never seen that coloration on a mantis in the states. It looks so pretty on your plumeria. Karyn